Welcome to this edition of the best defensive plays of the week, now coming at you every Wednesday.

June 19th, Reds vs Pirates – Billy Hamilton gets some air.

Before the season, there were questions as to whether or not Billy Hamilton could adequately play center field. This year, he’s turned himself into a pretty damn good defensive player, and this game-saving catch was the culmination of all of that hard work.

June 20th, Astros vs Rays – Kevin Kiermaier’s wild path.

Kevin Kiermaier didn’t have much of a choice when he was chasing this foul ball, so that makes his…circular route a little more understandable. I’m just amazed that he managed to catch the ball *and* avoid serious injury when sliding into the bullpen like that.

June 20th, Mets vs Marlins – Marcell Ozuna has a CANNON.

I don’t even know what to say about this. One great throw in a game is one thing, but two? Including one to cut down the tying run for the last out of the ballgame? That’s on a whole new level. Giancarlo Stanton isn’t the only stud in Miami’s outfield.

June 21st, Red Sox vs Athletics – BROCKHOLT.

This is your weekly reminder that Brock Holt isn’t an outfielder and he has no business making obscene diving catches in the outfield like this one.

Anthony, there’s a wall there…you might want to stick your hand out and feel for it instead of just smashing into it. I have no idea how he held on to this ball, either – that was the craziest part.

June 24th, Athletics vs Mets – a bad route + wind = a great catch.

Eric Young Jr. is kind of like Brock Holt, an infielder masquerading as an outfielder, except he’s been doing it for years. Thus, you can get a situation where Young takes one of his patented sloppy routes to a fly ball, and the wind gets involved to make the route look even worse. But hey, at least he still came down with it.

June 24th, Cardinals vs Rockies – super Barnes!

This was the ninth inning of a five run game, so there wasn’t much on the line when Brandon Barnes pulled in this sinking liner from Matt Carpenter. That doesn’t mean this wasn’t a fantastic catch – it really was. But it wasn’t a game-changer like some of the others on this list.

About Joe Lucia

I'm the managing editor of Awful Announcing and the news editor of The Comeback. I also made The Outside Corner a thing for six seasons.